Systems Abuse

Systems abuse broadly refers to the misuse or manipulation of formal systems—such as legal, social, financial, healthcare, or child protection systems—by individuals to control, harass, intimidate, or harm others, often victims of family or domestic violence.

There are two main contexts in which systems abuse is commonly discussed:

1. Legal Systems Abuse (Family Violence Context):
   This involves perpetrators of family violence manipulating legal processes to exert control or continue abuse post-separation. Examples include:

   • Making false reports to child protection agencies
   • Applying for intervention orders against a partner
   • Prolonging custody battles with false allegations
   • Using legal actions to create emotional and financial burdens on victims
     This form of abuse is a tactic of coercive control, where the abuser uses the legal system as a tool to intimidate and isolate the victim.

2. Systems Abuse in Care or Protection Settings (Child Welfare Context):
   Here, systems abuse refers to preventable harm done to children or vulnerable individuals within systems designed to protect them, such as child welfare or healthcare systems. This harm arises from policies, procedures, or institutional practices that inadvertently cause emotional, developmental, or security harm. For example, children’s survival behaviors may be misinterpreted as problematic, leading to punitive responses rather than support.

Additional forms of systems abuse include:

• Financial system abuse: Controlling or harming someone by manipulating financial resources or accounts.
• Healthcare system abuse: Interfering with a victim’s access to medical care or medication.
• Workplace system abuse: Harassing or intimidating a victim through their employment, such as making false allegations to their employer.

Structural abuse is related but distinct; it refers to unfair treatment embedded within social or cultural systems that cause ongoing harm and entrapment of individuals, often making it difficult for victims to seek justice.

In summary, systems abuse is the strategic exploitation of institutional systems by perpetrators to perpetuate control and harm, often targeting vulnerable individuals through legal, social, financial, or care-related mechanisms.